Golf Business

An avid golfer with a demanding career in the greeting card business, Mike Keiser found a new calling on the authentic links courses of Scotland and Ireland. Seized by the beauty of the landscape and the holes running through it, he determined this was how golf was meant to be: inclusive, not private; played on foot, not riding a cart; the courses natural, neither lavish nor contrived. Vowing to transplant this experience to the States, Keiser entered the golf business and, ignoring the advice of experts, built a true links course in Oregon.

Running a golf club is hard work, and for the average manager, there's a lot on the to-do list, from members coming through the door to dealing with the committee, from ensuring F&B is running smoothly to making sure the course is up to scratch. And that's before we even get to dealing with the staff! People management is one of the hardest tasks in any organization, but in a golf club, it can be even more challenging. This book is designed to help you navigate those challenges, keep you out of the rough, and run your club safely, legally, and profitably.

In the early years of Adams Golf, entrepreneur Barney Adams labored in obscurity. He collected six patents for his golf products, manufacturing fine equipment but enjoying no sales. Everything changed for him and his company in 1996, though, when he invented the Tight Lies fairway wood. Working as a custom fitter, his customers repeatedly asked for a club they could play from "long iron" distance, from 180 to 220 yards to the green. Adams knew the technical secret was to lower the club's center of gravity.